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Bocas Del Toro Restaurant Ratings

By Conor on May 16, 2008

The restaurants of Bocas Del Toro continue to improve and for such a small town are incredibly top notch. Here are my ratings of the restaurants, in order from best to mid-range (not mentioning the worst), and comments on each. Prices continue to change and do vary, but the range is much smaller than, say, LA, and in my opinion all are affordable and worth it, so I will not mention their cost.

9 degrees: This new restaurant just opened 3 weeks ago. The owner, TJ, has worked for other top restaurants around the world and has just spent the last 10 months travelling Panama to source the best quality meat, fish, and produce. This is the nicest restaurant in Bocas in service, food, and ambiance. They will be opening a new market in the same building, called Tropical Markets, that will (believably) have the best butcher, bakery, and produce market in town. The development of this restaurant and its market counterpart is extremely encouraging to see in Bocas.
El Ultimo Refugio: The two owners, Katherine and Nicole, are extremely cool and friendly. The food is excellent and the restaurant is a town favorite and staple. Do not miss this spot on any trip to Bocas.
LemonGrass: Lemongrass has great food. It has a bit of Asian Fusion theme to the dishes to it and is elevated over the water for a good breeze and pleasant ambiance.
La Casbah: Good food, small restaurant, not much of a bar.
Om: Decent Indian food. I thought the dishes lacked a bit of meat, but the sauces were excellent and the staff and owner are very corteous.

Topics: Travel, Panama | No Comments »

Book Review: Echoes

By Conor on May 15, 2008

Book: Echoes

Author: Nathan P. Butler

I tried something new on a few recent flights for some business travel. I tried to listen to a “book on tape” as we used to call them, although they are now called audiobooks, podiobooks, podcasts, or something of that sort. Basically, I listened to the book on my iPod. I am also working on another “book on CD” currently, but am only half way through that.

The book I tried was the first interesting topic I could find when I did a quick search from the Cathay business lounge in the Hong Kong airport terminal. It sounded interesting enough to me. Murder, mystery, politics…

“It begins with a murder in an Atlanta hotel room. There is no DNA. There are no fingerprints. There are only the victim’s ties to two powerful men: one a senator, the other a high-ranking aide to the President of the United States.

Amid an unfamiliar landscape of D.C. politics, Atlanta Homicide Detective Darren Fox must seek out a killer who leaves no trace, discover secrets long buried, and come face to face with one of America’s darkest secrets and most dangerous truths . . . “

The book begins fairly well for a murder mystery, building up a few key characters in the police department and the background for the victim and potential suspects. I would say it was a decent book until about 3/5ths of the way through.

At that point it takes an ubrupt twist. I have no problem spoiling this book for others because I will not suggest you read it, but essentially the book changes from a murder-mystery to the sci-fi thriller genre. It also introduces a few new characters at this point and focuses on the new characters for the rest of the book. Butler only returns to the initial characters for the concluding scene once the murder is solved and to try to tie everything together. This complete change threw me for too much of a loop and I was disappointed from that point on.

When I read a murder mystery I expect a fairly standard format consisting of a thrilling murder scene, evidence, well-developed characters, and a few twists as we go along that keep me wondering, “who did it?” Unfortunately with this book, I was never able to wonder this because the new characters mid-book threw a complete twist to the story and the mystery almost vanished entirely anyway to be replaced by the sci-fi action side of the twist. Avoid this book.

*image and quote source: starwarsfanworks.com/echoes

Topics: Books, Politics | No Comments »

CHINA EARTHQUAKE SUPPORT

By Conor on May 13, 2008

If you would like to contribute directly to the support efforts for the earthquake that took place in the Sichuan province in China, I suggest using this site for the American Red Cross.

The American Red Cross is a safer bet if you are worried about your credit card or the legitimacy of the Hong Kong Red Cross. However, looking on their donation section, it seems the American Red Cross does not allow donations to go directly to the Chinese earthquake support. The International Response Fund is the closest thing to China support, but the money could just as easily go to Myanmar as well.

While I am for helping in the Myanmar cyclone disaster, I am worried that the money may not be able to be used, or even worse end up in the hands of the military government there. At this time, the government is still not allowing international support, led by the UN, into the country. There are estimates that up to 100,000 could die because of this catastrophe.

Personally, I would like to go as close to the source as possible and tried to donate directly to the Hong Kong Red Cross. (For your info, the HKD is at roughly 7.8 HKD/USD, so a donation of HK$500 is equal to US$64. Your credit card will handle the currency transaction automatically.) However, I was unable to navigate through the site and get in a bid. It kept crashing and was too slow. So, in the end, I had to go with the American Red Cross.

*image source: redcross.org

Topics: Philanthropy, China | 1 Comment »

Building a Bastimentos Paradise

By Conor on May 13, 2008

My buddy Kyle sent over a great story on the development of the Tranquilo Bay eco-adventure lodge on the island of Isla Bastimentos in Bocas Del Toro, Panama.

The story is extremely detailed and quite impressive; a must read for anyone interested in Bocas. The group built this resort from scratch by hand, literally. They cut almost every inch of the jungle with their own machete’s and had to basically sleep in a tent for two years with no electricity to complete the construction.

The Kimball’s live quite an ideal life now. Their kids are growing up bilingual, and while the parents are bringing tutors to the island, the jungle, beach, and ocean are their true classrooms. A period of hard work and dedication were duly needed to achieve this life and I hope the children and any visitors or critics give them credit for their effort.

I have heard of this resort down in Bocas but I have never visited. From the sounds of this description I think I may use this as my next hotel on my next visit. Not only is the story incredibly inspiring, but the place sounds quite “tranquil”.

Topics: Travel, Education, Forest Green, Panama | No Comments »

“Free Tibet” Flags “Made in China”

By Conor on May 12, 2008

Here’s an interesting situation out of China. Apparently the “Free Tibet” flags that everyone loved carrying around during the Olympic Torch protest were actually being made in China.

The factory owners and workers did not know what the flags stood for that they were making. That sort of thinking makes you realize just how much of a manufacturing plant China really can be at times. If they did not realize they were producing something that went against their national pride, I’m sure copyright and trademark infringements are much further down the line in terms of their awareness of what they are making. It will be a long time before piracy is under any sort of control within China.

Topics: China | 1 Comment »

Housing Market Supply is Massive

By Conor on May 8, 2008

The WSJ article, ”The Brighter Side of Housing“, contains an excellent interactive chart showing some disturbing statistics for the housing market.

I sorted the cities by Housing Supply, which is described as “the number of months needed to sell the current supply based on the average monthly sales rate for the past 12 months”. As you can see, there are at least nine cities with more than a years worth of supply on the market. Not only that, but these cities also have poor employment outlooks and almost all have already gone through double digit percentage declines in housing prices since last year.

All told, stay away from these cities:

Miami
Orlando
Tampa
Las Vegas
Detroit
Phoenix
Jacksonville
Chicago
Atlanta

Topics: Las Vegas, Real Estate | No Comments »

Mangrove Depletion put Myanmar at Risk

By Conor on May 7, 2008

A comment by an ASEAN politician points some blame on the depletion of mangroves around the coastal areas of Myanmar for some of the excess damage to the coast and the resulting deaths from this weeks Cyclone.

“Encroachment into mangrove forests, which used to serve as a buffer between the rising tide, between big waves and storms and residential areas; all those lands have been destroyed,” the AFP news agency reported him as saying.

While the situations are tragic, much can be learned from these gigantic storms and their impact. From Hurricane Katrina to the Tsunami in Indonesia, lessons are being learned.

A study of the 2004 Asian tsunami found that areas near healthy mangroves suffered less damage and fewer deaths.

Mangroves are an interesting species of plant. I always thought of them as cool looking, but when I was around them I found them annoying. There are not any good beaches near mangroves. However the ecosystem within them are amazing. It is even more interesting to learn of their impact for keeping the seas at bay.

Topics: Sea Green | No Comments »

Political Propaganda

By Conor on May 7, 2008

John McCain is a good person.

He is a true war veteran and went through torture and punishement to stay true to his values.
He is the one true friend to his dying Democrat mentor.
The story about he and his wife’s adoption of a child from Bangledesh will bring a tear to your eye. Fast forward to 4:30 in this video:

Hillary Clinton is a liar.

She told Sir Edmund Hillary that she was named after him and his historic achievement of climbing Mt. Everest. Only problem was that she was born 5 years prior to that acheivement.
She used her daughter, Chelsea, for sympathy, saying she was jogging around the WTC towers when the planes hit. Of course, Chelsea’s version is that she was sitting in her apartment across town, glued to the television like the rest of America.
She told a ridiculous story about being under sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia, only to retract it later when the video showed her hugging children and smiling. Watch the video:

Barack Obama wants to raise taxes.

Topics: Politics | No Comments »

Best News Aggregator Feed

By Conor on May 6, 2008

I had a string of conversations this morning that confirmed for me a subconscious realization I have noticed recently. The realization is that the best Top News aggregator is actually Google Hot Trends. Forget CNN, FOX, Yahoo News, Digg, etc. The most popular search terms on Google are the best way of knowing the top news and what is going on in the world.

I use the widget for Google Hot Trends on my iGoogle home page to track the “hot” search terms. You can also check the web site, but however you do it, if you keep it up on your home page when you open a browser, you will always be in touch with what is going on in the world in fairly real-time. While other sites are reliant upon authors to have written a story on what has happened, with Google hot search terms, all you need is for the story to have been put in front of people’s eyes somewhere and it will be searched. This way, the site only has second derivative bias towards politics, economics, or any other ways specific sites and authors may lean.

The specific conversations I had began with first a question from a friend asking me “what is a cyclone?”. Sure enough, I had my iGoogle homepage open and the #5 most searched term was actually “what is a cyclone”. I immediately clicked on the news button there, got a 2 second refresh on the Myanmar cyclone story and updated my friend. Then, I mentioned this to my step-brother, Jaime, who was sitting next to me and who reiterated the same thoughts. He has recently added that widget to his homepage and pointed out that he relies on this entirely for his general news. “It even lets me know when American Idol was on, because all of the top searches are for American Idol and the best songs that were sung,” he says. Then he sprints to his TV and replays that nights’ American Idol from his DVR. I know Jaime would never miss his chance to sing along with the American Idol stars, so if this is good enough for him, you better believe it is a great way to stay on top of the news.

Topics: Technology, Domains | 1 Comment »

Green Competition: Hypermiling

By Conor on May 5, 2008

For those of you who are going green aggresively, you should check out the new competition/activity called Hypermiling on Hypermiling.com.

Basically, Hypermiling consists of a group of people who are changing their driving habits to improve their fuel use efficiency. There are forums out there for people to discuss their techniques and compare their improved efficiency. The goal is to reduce your use of oil and pay less for gas by simple changes to how you drive that will not really affect anything else.

A few examples of these are:

Use Cruise Control on the highway
Take your foot of the gas as soon as you see the light turn to yellow or red to benefit from coasting
Slowly accelerate after stopping
Shift to Neutral at stop lights

There are even more extreme examples that the true competitors are using:

Reducing weight in your car
Tailgating to draft the car in front of you (not recommended)

Not only are these proven improvements to fuel efficiency, but people also compete to see how much they can improve their gas mileage and track the differences based on changes to their driving habits.